Full disclosure: I did not expect Morbid Saint’s first proper post-reunion album ‘Swallowed by Hell’ to be anywhere near as good as it is. Thrashers their age often end up sounding tired or neutered by modern production techniques, and given the fact that Morbid Saint is known primarily for its vicious, annihilating type of thrash metal, those were my expectations. The fact that it’s housed in an album cover that looks like Ed Repka parodizing himself did not bode well either. Surprisingly though, ‘Swallowed by Hell’ is one of the better thrash metal comeback albums, celebrating Morbid Saint’s past without being held hostage by it.

Morbid Saint’s debut album ‘Spectrum of Death’ is about as extreme thrash metal can get without moving into death metal territory. ‘Swallowed by Hell’ does sound a bit more controlled. But to be fair, hints of that could already be found on their sophomore ‘Destruction System’, which was recorded in the early nineties, though not released until much later. The tempos are generally high, the riffing is precise, and when the music does slow down, it is still upper mid-tempo stuff rather than the terrible breakdowns thrash bands desperately trying to keep up with the times are attempting.

Of course, a track with the title ‘Rise from the Ashes’ needs to open up an album with this background. But apart from its appropriate title, the song is the perfect way to kick off proceedings musically as well. The riffs that I wish were on Sadus’ recent album are actually there in spades and Pad Lind’s vocals are another thing that exceed my expectations. He traded his Don Doty-inspired vomit-growl for something that sounds a bit higher and more hardcore-tinged, not unlike Sacrifice’s Rob Urbinati. An improvement, in my opinion, as it adds to the treble-heavy abrasiveness of the album’s overall sound.

From then on, it’s a never-ending onslaught of tight, propulsive riffs and excellent drumming by relative newcomer DJ Bagemehl. And yet, ‘Swallowed by Hell’ features enough variation to remain interesting for most of its runtime. ‘Burn Pit’ and ‘Pine Tuxedo’ were immediate favorites of mine. The former due to its surprisingly aggressive guitar harmonies and relentless intensity, the latter because of its relatively epic nature, sounding like traditional heavy metal on a murdering rampage, with some really cool lead guitar work to boot. Other highlights include the dynamic ‘Fear Incarnate’, the sneakily clever ‘Bloody Floors’ and the blunt, effective title track.

Sure, ‘Swallowed by Hell’ is not without its flaws. Forty-seven minutes is a bit long for an album this incessantly intense, especially when a handful of songs doesn’t hold up. ‘Bleed Them Dry’, for instance, has an incredible chorus, but not much else going for it. As a whole, however, ‘Swallowed by Hell’ is much better than it has any right to be, and many of Morbid Saint’s peers could learn a lesson or three from the album. Morbid Saint proves that it’s perfectly possible for an older thrash metal band to write material that doesn’t sound the least bit dated without alienating your fans. For that alone, this album deserves all the praise it can get.

Recommended tracks: ‘Pine Tuxedo’, ‘Rise from the Ashes’, ‘Burn Pit’